Cindy Knoke

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Wild Eyes~

These mountain lions were photographed at The Big Bear Alpine Zoo in Big Bear Lake California.

Big Bear Alpine Zoo is a rescue and rehabilitation facility that provides injured, orphaned and imprinted wild animals a safe haven, either temporarily as they heal, or permanently if they are unable to survive in the wild. 90% of the animals brought to the facility are released back into the wild.

There are 160 animals in the facility currently, comprising 60 different species. There is a golden eagle with one eye, a bear with three legs, a grizzly that was scheduled for euthanasia at Yellowstone, animals that were kept as pets and abandoned when they become too much to handle, and many more animals with sad histories.

A new zoo is under construction that will offer more spacious accommodation with glass enclosures. The zoo is owned by The Big Bear Department of Parks and Recreation and is staffed by county employees (Source: Big Bear Alpine Zoo).

Great shots Cindy! Cougars are the only animal I haven’t seen and photographed. Vancouver island has the greatest population of Cougars on this earth and I have never ran across a single one.
Why do they keep this one in there anyways?

“Vancouver island has the greatest population of Cougars on this earth and I have never ran across a single one.”
I had no idea!!! I was always getting more careful there when I came upon tons of fresh bear scat, I wasn’t factoring in mountain lions, laughing.
California had a bunch too when I was a kid, but I would only see their cached deer kills, always knowing they were watching me, while I could not even see them.
They are impressive, much like birds, in that are good at evading humans.
A juvenile just attacked a biker in Colorado. He strangled it by hand.

well,they are a ambush predator so they normally do not expose themselves but your right,they most often are observing you.
Yes,heard about that Colorado incident. If you thought that was interesting your going to love this

this article is not totally accurate Cindy.I just noticed that it says he threw the Leopard over his shoulder and walked back to camp.He did not do that.The Leopard was brought back to camp by other men from the camp and put on the bed near him.

This seems to be more like an animal hospital than a zoo. They say that 90% of all the animals brought to them for rehabilitation are successfully released back into their native environment. That is good to hear.